Singletary not Singing after OTA

The first day of the 49ers’ organized team activities didn’t go so well, according to head coach Mike Singletary.

“It was not good,” Singletary said. “It is not the 49ers, where we’re planning to go, the things that we have in mind, this is not it. We cannot come out here (and practice poorly), even though it’s not the regular season, even though it’s not training camp, but at the same time, it is an opportunity. …. We lost a day today.”

This guy wasn’t pleased with Monday’s practice.

Singletary didn’t go into detail and he didn’t have the histrionics that he displayed after the first game as a head coach when uttered the lines, “Can’t win with ’em! Can’t coach with ’em!” which has since been a regular bit on Late Night with David Letterman. But clearly, Singletary was not pleased.

The coach is an interesting mix. On the one hand, he’s honest with his assessment of the first day of OTA’s on the other, he didn’t say what he didn’t like.

Here some other highlights from Singletary’s meeting with the press today:

Singletary did release cornerback/safety Jimmy Williams and on the same day, the team announced the signing of 7th-round pick Curtis Taylor, another safety. Singletary said Williams got caught up in the numbers and maybe they wanted to give him a chance to sign with another team. The release says a few things – they obviously like Taylor, and the move almost cements that Reggie Smith is now a safety. Also the move leaves an opening for Mark Roman to return.

Roman isn’t at the voluntary OTA’s this week, mainly because he’s recovering from ankle surgery. But don’t be surprised to see Roman back as a 49er next year, although in a backup role to Dashon Goldson, unless Smith and Taylor can beat him out.

When asked about his quarterbacks, Singletary said they aren’t so much competing against each other as they are competing against the rest of the quarterbacks in the league. It’s an interesting comment, and may mean that in his mind, the quarterback competition is over and Shaun Hill is his starter. When asked about Alex Smith, Singletary said he thought he was healthy but rusty.

Singletary was also asked about the 49ers being one of the nine teams to opt out of the league’s pension plan for assistant coaches. Singletary said there would be another pension plan in place. One source said the opt out maybe good, because, apparently, the league’s pension plan lost a lot of value in the recession.